posted 01-14-2010 03:30 PM
Aside from the most noted (and ill-fated) Helicopter 66, does anyone have a list, and/or know the fates, of the recovery helos used in Mercury, Gemini and Apollo?

ea757grrlMember

Posts: 555From: South CarolinaRegistered: Jul 2006

posted 01-14-2010 04:32 PM
I've been collecting, off and on, some of this information, and here's what I've been able to find. This is for the helicopters that actually retrieved the astronaut(s) at the end of a given mission, and I've verified it through pictures and through other sources, including footage in the Spacecraft Films sets.

This information includes model designation, Bureau Number (the Navy serial number), squadron, and tail code/modex (the aircraft's "side number"). If a mission is not listed, it's because the astronauts departed the spacecraft aboard the recovery ship.

MERCURY 3 -- HUS-1 BuNo 148767, HMR(L)-262, ET-44

MERCURY 4 -- HUS-1 BuNo 148754, HMR(L)-262, ET-30

MERCURY 7 -- HSS-2 (SH-3A) BuNo 148964, HS-3, AU-61

GEMINI 3 -- SH-3A BuNo 148984, HS-3, AU-57

GEMINI 4 -- SH-3A (BuNo unknown), HS-11, AS-64

GEMINI 5 -- SH-3A BuNo 149005, HS-5, AT-58

GEMINI 7 -- SH-3A BuNo 149006, HS-11, AT-56

GEMINI 10 -- SH-3A BuNo 152134, HS-3, AU-63

GEMINI 11 -- SH-3A BuNo 152134, HS-3, AU-63

GEMINI 12 -- SH-3A BuNo 151556, HS-11, AS-66

APOLLO 7 -- SH-3A BuNo 149918, HS-5, AT-55

APOLLO 8 -- SH-3D BuNo 152711, HS-4, NU-66

APOLLO 9 -- SH-3D BuNo 152695, HS-3, AU-54

APOLLO 10 -- SH-3D BuNo 152711, HS-4, NT-66

APOLLO 11 -- SH-3D BuNo 152711, HS-4, NT-66

APOLLO 12 -- SH-3D BuNo 152711, HS-4, NT-66

APOLLO 13 -- SH-3D BuNo 152711, HS-4, NT-66

APOLLO 14 -- SH-3D BuNo 152121, HS-6, NS-500

APOLLO 15 -- SH-3G BuNo 148996, HC-1, UP-001

APOLLO 16 -- SH-3G BuNo 149930, HC-1, UP-001

APOLLO 17 -- SH-3G BuNo 149930, HC-1, UP-001

Several of these helicopters went on to long careers (and modifications) and were put into storage. As of a few years ago, 149930 was in storage out at (IIRC) Davis-Monthan. I don't know if it's still in existence, though. It's too bad a museum didn't get her, as recovering the crews of the last two lunar missions is a pretty significant thing.

The only other one I can remember off the top of my head is the famous "Hunt Club 1" helicopter, a Sikorsky HUS-1/H-34 that bore BuNo 148755. It was reported to be at the Allied scrapyard near AMARC with the registration N4216H as recently as 2008. I don't know if it's yet been scrapped, or what's left if it hasn't.

Lou ChinalMember

Posts: 946From: Staten Island, NYRegistered: Jun 2007

posted 01-14-2010 08:24 PM
Good list Jodie.

I posted a list of all the recovery helo pilots a while back. I was on the Intrepid today, but had not seen this post til later. The "Big I" had been involved in MA-7 and Gemini 3. I don't know if they have any plans for the helicopters. The chopper that picked up Carpenter had a side# of 61, a smaller # of 8964. Hope this helps.

ea757grrlMember

Posts: 555From: South CarolinaRegistered: Jul 2006

posted 01-15-2010 07:40 AM
Thanks, Lou. It's an ongoing project of mine, and some of that data was more challenging to collect than I imagined it would be. I hope to someday add the Mercury and Gemini information to that, as well.

In a pile of documents at home, I have some of the post-recovery reports from Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, and they're very interesting for numerous reasons -- including their listings of pretty much all the aircraft embarked for the recovery by BuNo and hours flown. There's an awful lot of data out there, but the frustrating part can be tracking it down.

I haven't yet been able to find the fate of BuNo 152695 (of Apollo 9).

PeterOMember

Posts: 191From: Rochester, NHRegistered: Mar 2002

posted 01-15-2010 06:10 PM
Although not strictly a recovery helo, the Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever from USS Randolph that ferried John Glenn from USS Noa to Randolph was:

BuNo 147588Squadron HU-2Tail Code HUModex 46

ea757grrlMember

Posts: 555From: South CarolinaRegistered: Jul 2006

posted 01-16-2010 07:03 AM
List above is updated to include additional information I've found. I'm still looking for the Bureau Number of the Gemini 4 recovery helicopter, and at some point I'll update what I can find about the final fates of each helicopter.

Hope this will be of some interest.

jodie

cfreeze79Member

Posts: 300From: Martinez, CA, USARegistered: Nov 2000

posted 01-16-2010 12:09 PM
I have been building a couple webpages on the recovery helicopters used (inspired by collectSPACE's listings of the Apollo 11 samples and flown flags, Goodwill moon rocks, and the Ambassador of Space awards).

Thanks for the help, y'all have filled in a couple of holes, and look forward to more...